GORDON Strachan is closer to knowing his final selection after putting his players through their paces in Ireland.

The City manager was delighted with their progress and fitness levels and feels his strongest eleven is taking shape in his mind, if not yet on the playing field.

"I have got an idea of what my final 11 is going to be but there are still two or three places open," he revealed.

Players that stood out in the manager's eyes over the three games were Marcus Hall, Ivan Guerrero (pictured) and John Eustace.

"Ivan has been a huge bonus on this trip and I think he has been absolutely fantastic," he added.

"He has worked well with Marcus Hall where the two have built up a good understanding and Marcus has enjoyed playing with him. So that has been smashing."

Strachan also pointed to his defence in the second half of the second match against University College Dublin which lined up with Paul Williams and Mo Konjic at centre-half and Roland Nilsson and Hall at full-back.

"We looked all right at the back and I don't know if the opposition had a shot on goal during the second half which says a lot about the guys, as well as those up front who are our first line of defence."

And while the manager was extremely pleased with the tour as a whole, he admitted that he may have pushed his players a little too far physically.

"I think Sunday's game was one match too far," he said. "With injuries and things we ended up with about six non-runners.

"Bray were a better test but they caught us at a good time because the boys have worked extremely hard.

"They trained on Thursday before the first game, had two sessions on the Friday and then played Saturday and Sunday, so it has been full steam ahead.

"But what it has shown me is the people with mental character who can forget the tiredness and run. Jay Bothroyd and John Eustace were fantastic and Jay has shown himself that he can push himself mentally and physically beyond what he could do before."